The invention relates to a drinking container with a drinking vessel and a drinking cap. The drinking vessel is preferably a drinking bottle or a drinking cup and the drinking cap is preferably a drinking spout, a push/pull drinking cap, a drinking straw drinking cap or a drinking suction nozzle.
Drinking caps have a bottom wall, a ring flange surrounding the bottom wall for fastening on the opening edge of the drinking vessel by means of a fastening ring and a mouthpiece protruding outward from the bottom wall with at least one drinking opening on the outside. The drinking opening is connected with the inside of the mouthpiece via a passage. By sucking on the mouthpiece during drinking, negative pressure is created in the drinking vessel, which must be relieved. Drinking caps have ventilation valves for this reason.
In the case of a design of the drinking cap as a drinking suction nozzle, a suction nozzle is connected with the ring flange via a suction spout. The drinking suction nozzle is produced as a single piece made of an elastomer material. The drinking opening is a hole or a slit or several holes or slits in the upper end of the suction part. For ventilation, for example, a slit valve is present on the circumference of the suction spout, which opens when there is negative pressure in the drinking bottle. Radial grooves on the bottom side of the ring flange, through which air can flow between the ring flange and the opening edge of the drinking vessel, are also known.
Seals of drinking suction nozzles on drinking bottles are also known, in which slightly different setting angles of the sealing surfaces in the case of light screwing do not lead to a full seal. In the case of this type of seal, one of the two sealing surfaces is generally made of a soft elastic material.
Drinking suction nozzles with a slit valve are complex to produce. Grooves in the sealing surface progressing outward radially are very short so that good ventilation is hardly compatible with a sufficient seal against the escape of liquid. Different torques of the threaded ring lead to different deformations of the ventilation grooves, which impair their function. In the case of different setting angles of the sealing surfaces, the production effort is high due to the soft component. Ventilation and sealing also depend greatly on the torque of the threaded ring in the case of these designs.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,737,180, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a drinking suction nozzle made of flexible material, which is protected from collapsing by the negative suction pressure. For this, the drinking suction nozzle has a spiral channel in the bottom side of a fastening flange. The drinking suction nozzle is preferably formed from an elastic material or synthetic rubber as well as silicone rubber. But it can also be made of plastic materials with the same elastic properties, as well as for example of PVC.
Due to the elasticity, the air flow is changeable through the setting of the cross-section of the channel, in that a threaded ring is screwed tighter on a drinking bottle for the fixing of the fastening flange. The changeability of the channel cross-section is promoted through the design of the channel between easily deformable ribs. The small cross-section of the channel and its length are to prevent the escape of liquid.
FR 2 548 894 A1, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a one-piece drinking suction nozzle made of a soft elastomer. The drinking suction nozzle has several channels, which have the shape of a spiral section and are designed as a groove in the bottom side of the flange. The spiral sections each extend around their common center by approximately 240°. The channels should let air easily flow through when there is negative pressure in the drinking bottle and prevent the escape of liquid. Also in the case of this drinking suction nozzle, the extent of ventilation and prevention of escape of liquid also depends on the torque exerted on the threaded ring.
The known feeding suction nozzles with spiral channels have permanently open drinking openings so that a protection from the leaking of the tipped drinking bottle is not possible. The channels serve above all to ventilate the drinking bottles and prevent the collapse of the soft suction nozzle during drinking. In the case of a firmly tightened threaded ring, the channels are largely pressed together whereby the ventilation is greatly reduced. In order to also ensure this in the case of strong compression, the channels have a large cross-section. For this reason, a liquid escape is easily possible in the case of low torques.
Furthermore, drinking caps designed as a drinking spout are known. In the case of these drinking caps, the mouthpiece generally has an oval cross-section and is arranged eccentrically with respect to the ring flange. A suction valve, which opens when negative pressure is applied, is integrated into the mouthpiece. Furthermore, a ventilation valve, which opens when negative pressure builds up in the drinking vessel, is integrated into the bottom wall. Drinking spouts are leak-proof due to the valves. The mouthpiece, bottom wall and ring flange are preferably designed as one piece of hard plastic (hard spout). There are also soft spouts, which are designed as one piece of silicone or natural rubber and have a slit valve in the mouthpiece and another slit valve for ventilation in the bottom wall. The high production effort is disadvantageous in the case of the known spouts.
Furthermore, drinking caps are known that are designed as a push/pull cap. It has a mouthpiece accessible from the outside, which is arranged in an axially shiftable manner in a mouthpiece holder that is connectable with the drinking container. The mouthpiece is moveable back and forth with the teeth or by hand between an opened and a closed position. Due to the fact that the hands are generally not needed to open and close the cap, these drinking caps are popular in particular in the field of sports, for leisure activities and on drinking containers for children. In simple designs, air flows in through the open mouthpiece, for which the user must put down the drinking bottle. In complex designs, air can flow in through a ventilation valve in the bottom wall of the mouthpiece holder.
Furthermore, drinking caps with a drinking straw are known. These have a drinking straw holder with a through hole, into which a drinking straw is inserted in a sealing manner. An upper part of the drinking straw sticks up beyond the top side of the drinking straw holder and a lower part protrudes into the drinking vessel from the bottom side of the drinking straw holder in order to extract the beverage from the drinking vessel while sucking on the top part. The drinking straw can be sealed for example through bending and fixing of the bent drinking straw by means of a cover clamped on the drinking straw holder. In addition or instead, a suction valve can be integrated into the drinking straw. The drinking straw can be supported via a conical flange on a cone in the bottom wall of the drinking straw holder. The cone of the bottom wall can be provided with ventilation holes. In the case of negative pressure in the drinking vessel, the flange of the drinking straw can be lifted from the ventilation holes so that air can flow in from outside. This requires the buildup of a high negative pressure.